Alaska photos

Here are some pictures from the Alaska trip. Our friend Jerry does an excellent job with his new SLR digital. One funny story---the picture of the four of us in front of the Iditarod start was taken by a very nice oriental gentleman that spoke no english other than bowing and smiling. He however knew very much about cameras and Jerry's camera that was of course Japanese. We communicated by hand signals and facial expressions on a unique level.

http://www.winkflash.com/photo/public.aspx?u=6lunch&ic=5698457

Enjoy
Wes

Alaska The End

Tuesday and we are back at the Anchorage airport. We left Homer today after watching the eagle feeding. We stopped at the Post Office on the way out and mailed some excess stuff home. (for the second time) This was to prevent our luggage from being over weight, and make it easier to manage. The trip back was pretty much just a scenic drive. We stopped for lunch at the Naptowne Diner, which was planning to close an hour after we got there. The waitress was less than enthused at our arrival. We ordered simple stuff, and were surprised by sandwiches arriving well made and on sturdy bread. As had become our custom, we sampled this establishment’s chili offering. It tasted pretty good, but needed salt badly, and had a taste Brenda didn’t like. (it also gave Jerry the indigestion later)

We stopped for gas in Soldotna and ran into one of my pet peeves. Jerry put his AMEX card in the pump, and started fueling. The pump cut off at $50 and wouldn’t give any more gas. I can’t believe these gas stations are so stupid they have not figured out if gas is $3.59 (what we paid today) then they need to raise the limits on the credit cards. As it was, that was enough gas for us so we went on. Actually it was their loss cause we would have bought more gas if it had let us.

We completed our trip back to Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm. It was interesting the difference in the view since it was low tide this trip. The tidal difference was incredible. There were huge mud flats, stacked with ice chunks, as far as you could see. When we got to anchorage, we looked up a craft shop we had been told about that resides in the Native American hospital. We found it but unfortunately it closed much earlier in the afternoon. We peeked through the windows, and were sad we were not able to be there when it was open. All the art was certified made by local Native American artists, and was beautiful.

After the craft shop we went to the Alaska Fur Trading Co. but it was also closed. Then we went to the Alaskan Blueberry Candy Co. This establishment has the notoriety of having the largest chocolate fountain in the world. It contains 3500 # of liquid chocolate, and is over 20 feet tall. It was out of service today. We got to see it, but all it did was look dirty. We shopped all over the store, which contained every possible Alaskan souvenir plus candy of all sorts.

After the Blueberry place, we stopped in at the Peanut Factory sports bar and grill. We wanted to kill a little time, check on the progress of the Iditarod, and partake of a few adult beverages. Turns out the Iditarod isn’t going to finish up till about 01:00 this morning. (about the time we’re taking off) We had our adult beverages, and headed out to the airport and returning the car.

As usual I was dreading the whole airport deal but it turned out to be reasonably benign this time. Since we were so early (8:00pm for an 01:00am flight) the Delta folks nicely took our checked baggage and relived us of the burden of keeping up with it. They told us the TSA folks didn’t open security till 10:15, so we sat down across from the Delta check in to wait.

While we were sitting there, I noticed a Mexican (un Native American) woman struggling through the door with a large suitcase. She parked the suitcase inside with a teenage girl to watch it. A little while later here she comes with a rental luggage cart loaded 3 high with HUGE suitcases. She also had a 30-ish woman with her and 2 small children. (oh and all the women were wearing SKIN-TIGHT black jeans.) Between them they had literally a mountain of luggage. I alerted my traveling companions, as this looked to be a developing show. The woman started working with the Delta guy, establishing her flying credentials. Then they started with the luggage. Every bag they put on the scale was overweight. Many of the bags were larger than the women. They sorted all the bags into two piles—those that were really over weight and those that were just heavy. Only two actually were under 50# a nd passed. Then the Delta guy gave them these huge plastic see through bags. They began yanking stuff out of the overweight bags and stuffing it into the plastic bags. They would randomly yank some stuff out and then re-weigh the bags until they passed. (all the while rambling in 300 mph Spanish) Meanwhile the two small children were running wild. They pushed all the parked wheelchairs to various parts of the terminal, climbed on all the furniture, and knocked down some signs. After the giant luggage reorganization had been accomplished, the women sealed and checked the overflow bags full of loose cloths. Then they turned and began moving the entire entourage to the TSA baggage screening area. In the process they almost turned over the overloaded baggage cart knocking down one of the stanchions for the guide rails. We are wondering what the randomly stuffed plastic bags will look like when they arrive at the other end. And we are hoping this circus doesn’t end up sitting all around us on the plane. (they are on our flight)

So we are going to catch a bite to eat, and get on the plane in about an hour. Hopefully we’ll be able to sleep our way to Salt Lake City. Amazingly the circus didn’t end at the baggage check in. It appeared to be our night for weird airplane stuff. We got up to the TSA security area, and they were closed. A sign proclaimed they would reopen at 10:15 pm. At 10:22, the doors opened and the crazy Mexican entourage headed into security. Amazingly, they didn’t have great problems. We also had a surprisingly pleasant trip through the TSA Gestapo. I attributed it to the fact we were in the first 10 groups through and they were still fresh and in a good mood. After security, we hustled down to our gate to secure a seat. Delta still goes out of the old part of the Anchorage airport, and seating in the waiting areas is limited. Also, the only sustenance available was from a snack shop se rving only cinibonns and hotdogs. We partook of the offered fare, and settled in to wait for our flight.

In a while we heard this screaming baby. Unfortunately the only seats left were beside us. This nice old black man came and sat down with this poor terrified baby screaming at the top of its lungs. The only remedy he seemed to know was beating the kid on its back vigorously. Vickie ever the mama offered advice, suggesting the baby was hungry. The reply was grandmamma fed it twice before we left. So the girls worked very hard to restrain themselves and not get involved. Not so for some poor unfortunate woman up by the ticket counter. The last we saw as we were preparing to board was this poor woman rocking the banshee and the old black man frantically dialing the cell phone for advice. Apparently (based on the quiet on the flight) they didn’t let him on the plane. Obviously something was up with this whole picture. The poor old black fellow seemed obviously not to know anything a bout infants and was traveling alone with one. I can only hope everything worked out for the best.

We boarded the plane and got settled on what was once again a slap full flight. I think the days of having a seat beside you empty are gone forever. With some chemical inducement, Vickie drifted off to dreamland before we even took off. I was very relaxed, but never managed to sleep except for a few snatches. We arrived in Salt Lake City, and had about time enough to walk from one plane to the other. (probably due to the extensive de-icing we had to undergo in Anchorage) I was able to grab a little food from a shop while Vickie negotiated our place in line. After 5+ hrs on the Anchorage plane, it was great to finally sit down on the plane from Salt Lake City to Atlanta. (Yeah right) Luckily Vickie went right back to sleep after eating what I had brought her. I struggled and squirmed my way through another flight. Apparently I had chosen two of the seats on the plane with 2-3 inc hes of LESS knee room due to the onboard defibulator being behind us. Luckily everyone was sleeping, and I got up and wandered around a little. I was able to stand in the back with the aircrew for a while and restore the circulation to my legs. Boy do I hate flying, but then at least it is only measured in hours and not days or weeks.

We arrived home in Raleigh, (via Atlanta where the whole world was passing through) and ransomed our car from the long-term lot. What a sweet deal for them---we’ll let you leave your car here and you pay us money. Occasionally we’ll repaint the lines on the parking lot. (but don’t complain or we’ll raise the rates) We loaded our luggage and headed for home. All in all it had been an astounding trip. I have vowed I’m going back in the wintertime and make the drive up the old pipeline haul road to the North Slope. I want to see Barrow and Prudhoe Bay in the winter. We are so very blessed to have the resources to see the interesting things we see. I now have a very different perspective on Alaska—Seward’s folly—we bought it from the Russians for less than it takes to run the Iraq war for an hour. (it is 52% as big as the continental Unite d States, AND has most of the oil left in the US) Let me recommend—summer or winter our most northern state is an undiscovered country, the last unspoiled wilderness in the US. Go and see it. (or better yet—don’t go—leave it alone) What a truly enlightening adventure this has been. Until the next time.

Wes

Alaska #11

Here I sit at the end of the Kenai Peninsula in Homer Alaska. We ended up at a resort called Land’s End that is on the very end of Homer Spit as far south west as you can go into Kachemak Bay, which connects with the Gulf of Alaska. How we got here is an interesting story. We left today headed for Seward, which is a fishing village on the coast south of Anchorage. The scenery as you skirt the edge of Turnagain Arm (named by Captain John Cook who had to turn around again when he discovered Turnagain Arm was also not the Northwest Passage) is incredible. The mountains were high, close and snow covered. We encountered drop arms along the highway (like a RR crossing) that allow them to close the highway when avalanches happen. Often we would see a sign “Avalanche Zone No Stopping”. We saw the remnants of many avalanches some that covered the road and the railroad tracks that run alo ng side.

The tides are famous in Turnagain Arm rising and falling 40-50 feet. The tide was going out as we drove alongside the Arm, and due to the ice chunks floating in the water we could see the speed of the tide. It looked like the water was moving about 15 mph. We left the coastline and started climbing up into the mountains. We could see the snow coming down in the passes. We arrived at Turnagain Pass where it was snowing heavily and they were using a giant snow blower to clear the road. After we passed through the pass (where snow was piled up 50 feet at the side of the road) we stopped at a rest area. We met a local fellow who suggested we would really appreciate Homer better than Seward. He told us about hundreds of bald eagles that congregate there. We made an on the go decision, and decided to go for the extra 120 miles it would take to Homer.

We stopped for lunch at the Sunrise Café just past the turn off to Homer. They had buffalo chili on the menu, and 3 of us went for some form of that. In addition they had great hand cut French fries, homemade coleslaw, pasta salad and pies. The food was great, and we enjoyed the local rustic surroundings with a view to die for out the window. Most of the rest of the drive was a little bland with the scenery consisting mostly of trees and road. A few little villages livened up the trip. Finally we came into Homer, and stopped at the scenic view just outside of town. What a sight it was. The bay all spread out below surrounded by snow-capped mountains with the sun shining on them. From the scenic view, the road descended a couple miles into Homer with mountains and volcanoes on all sides. We made our way through Homer, looking over the various motels till we reached The Spit at th e end of town. The Spit is a tiny strip of land that hangs 4.5 miles off the end of the peninsula. We drove to the end past hundreds of fishing boats and summer tourist trap stuff all boarded up for the winter. At the end we found the Land’s End Resort. The girls went in and checked it out. They offered a getaway special that included lodging, dinner, and discounts at the bar.

They also told us the “Eagle Lady” did her thing right next door every morning. The Eagle Lady of Homer, Jean Keene, is a woman who has been feeding bald eagles in this location since 1980. Most of the food is donated by local fisheries and residents. Before she starts the annual feeding she has to have enough food to last through the winter. Once feeding has begun it has to be done daily regardless of the weather. Bald eagles start congregating on the Homer Spit in mid November and most are gone by mid April. Some of the eagles come from as far as 160 miles away. Many of the eagles are juveniles. The normal survival rate for these young birds is about 50% because they have not yet become proficient hunters. Winter feeding elevates the survival rate to about 75%. Observers and photographers are welcome at the feeding. Miss Vickie called and talked to Jean, the Eagle Lady, to confirm the time of morning feeding. We plan to be there for the photo opportunity.

Wow we were just sitting here watching the sun going down across the bay, and a bald eagle flew right over our deck. We also saw some seals feeding directly in front of our room. There must be abundant small fish in the water just off our deck. There are thousands of sea birds rafted up in smooth water spots. As the sun sets, some mountain peaks are lighted and some are in shadow. It changes by the minute. This is one of those places that you could never believe until you see it. It’s really off the beaten path in the winter season.

We had a great dinner at the Land’s End restaurant last night. The meal is included in their getaway package, and included a glass of good wine. Jerry had Alaskan king crab, Vickie had local salmon grilled, Brenda had grilled halibut, and I had a grilled seafood plate that included halibut, scallops and shrimp. The food was great, and we met a nice local couple that filled us in on a lot of things from around here. Later we retired to our rooms for a good nights sleep in one of the best beds of the trip.

This morning we had the usual continental breakfast. (seems like there is a deluxe continental breakfast kit you must be able to order---they are all like cookie cutters) After breakfast we headed over to the eagle-feeding site. We were totally blown away by aprox 300 eagles perching all over the place waiting to be fed. They were 2 feet from our car, and one clipped the car antenna while landing. When the feeding started, it reminded me of gulls feeding, but it was this huge group of eagles with gigantic wingspans. The feeder tried to throw the fish hunks in different places all the time so everyone got something to eat. I’m sure I will never see so many bald eagles in one place and so close again in my life. Vickie and I were amazed when we saw one in a nest in Yellowstone Park. This was beyond description. After the eagle feeding, we reluctantly returned to prepare to leave f or Anchorage. More later.

Wes

Alaska #10

Sunday morning and here we sit on the train getting ready to leave Fairbanks. I don’t understand exactly what is going on. We were told to be at the RR station between 7:00 and 7:30 am. Train was supposed to leave at 8:00. We got up early, had breakfast, and after our cab driver couldn’t find the train station, got there about 7:20. Currently it’s 8:34 and we’re still sitting in the station. It might have something to do with the change to daylight savings time last night. I saw a couple of official looking guys arrive at the station a little bit ago in a big rush. Saw them later putting on railroad looking uniforms. I’d be willing to bet they forgot to change their clocks. 8:37 and we’ve just departed; our scheduled arrival in Anchorage is 7:40 tonight. We secured a map of the route at the train station. They just called our rows of the car to go to the dining car for breakfast. I already ate at the motel, so I am passing on that. I ’ll have my first dining experience on the train at lunch. A little way out of town, the cruise director came on and said we were stopping to pick up some folks who forgot about daylight savings time. Apparently they got them in cars and raced the train out to a crossing somewhere. We are currently sitting in the middle of nowhere and a snow covered road.

Train travel is much less structured than the airlines. There was no security, and you can check up to 4 bags per person. The only nod they give to security is you have to show a picture ID to get your boarding pass stamped. The Alaska rail cars are clean and in pretty good repair. The seats are comfortable and recline nicely. They are not appointed, as I would expect for this day in age however. There is no table that drops down from the seat in front, and there is no power outlet where you might plug in a laptop. (I’m on battery) I always envisioned writing on the train sitting at a table looking out the window. This is sort of like that but I’ve got a laptop on my laptop. We are in the coach section of the train, and according to Jerry, there is an upgraded section when the train runs in the summer that has domed vista cars and much plusher sea ts on a second level. It costs about $100 more. They don’t offer this service in the winter.

I’m going to hook up my GPS antenna and see if I can get it to pick up from the train. Got the GPS going and it is very interesting to follow our path and see the speed and elevation changes. Too bad there is no place to plug in, the battery is going to expire long before the trip finishes. (actually found a power outlet in the rear of the car, so will be able to recharge periodically) The scenery is pretty, but in these coach cars, a lot of the time all you can see is trees. Sometimes the trees thin and you can see the mountains in the distance. Walking around on the train is quite a challenge. It reminds me of the one cruise ship I was on when it was very rough. Moving between the cars is especially exciting. You can see the rails below and hear the wheels at work. At the back of our car, they have the tops of the two-piece doors open. I almost lost my hat when I went back the re. If you hold onto your hat you can look out and see the train ahead or behind. But boy is it cold with a 50 mph wind in your face.

We came through the village of Nenana where they hold the Nenana Ice Classic. They build a wooden tripod on the ice in the river, and people all over Alaska bet on when it will move downstream to the auto bridge. This means the ice is moving out of the river in the spring. It costs $2.50 to bet, and last year a few folks split a $350,000 pot. I think I’ll find a place in Anchorage for Vickie to bet. As we continue south, the scenery is unbelievable. We passed Glitter Gulch near Denali National Park. Glitter Gulch is where all the big hotels are for visitors to Denali. All of the cruise lines have big hotels there. It has a Quizno’s and 2 traffic lights now. Jerry said in the summer it is wall-to-wall tourists. Also in the summer Rt. 3, which runs along the railroad, is wall-to-wall RVs. We were not able to see Mt.McKinley (called by the natives Denali) as clouds obscured it. We were able to see many other mountains, however, and this has to be one of the prettiest places in the US during the winter.

I have decided we’re going to live in Alaska in the winter and our place in Mexico during spring and fall. The rest of the year we’ll just freeload with our kids. (when we’re not traveling) I don’t believe you can take this train ride and not fall in love with Alaska. The white mountains contrasting with the blue sky and green trees are a continuous panorama passing the train car window. Alaska is writer’s heaven. I have not even finished yesterday’s episode about our aurora borealis adventure the night before last. Seems like I just can’t get it all down.

We just took a break to the dining car for dunch (a late lunch combined with an early dinner). Vickie had a Caesar salad, Brenda had the Healey Miner’s lunch, (a pretty good burger) Jerry and I had the Engineers Special. The Engineer’s special was pot roast slow cooked on top of the diesel engine all the way from Fairbanks served with brown gravy and some steamed vegetables. We all shared a berry delight for desert. Vickie and Brenda both got cool bottles of water that say Alaska Railroad on them and are in special commerative bottles. The food was very good, and eating it with the winter Alaskan scenery going by was beyond great. We retired back to our seats after dunch with the possibility of a nap for all lulled to sleep by the rhythm of the train.

After some napping, sightseeing and wandering around, we are approaching Anchorage. The track coming in to Anchorage must be newly rebuilt. It varied quite a bit from what was on my GPS (sharp curves and jogs gone) and we attained the highest speed of the trip here, 62 mph. When we arrived in Anchorage, we reclaimed our luggage and relocated to the Fairfield Inn for the night. We are off to Seward in the morning.

Later---this morning I heard from dad. The biopsy reports are pretty much what we expected. The mass they removed was cancerous and the cancer has spread to his liver. About 15% of the liver is currently involved, and they give him the same year or so prognosis. He feels good, and is back to eating. He will be going home soon, and Dr. says he can probably resume a normal life for as long as he can. We’ll take it day by day and see what happens. More later.

Wes

Alaska #9

It’s Saturday night and we’re back to Fairbanks at the Comfort Inn. The last day or so was really interesting. Yesterday we got up and had a big breakfast at the restaurant at Chena Hot Springs. After breakfast, we got our suits, and hung out in the hot swimming lake for a while. Brenda had signed up to go on a dog sled ride around lunchtime. We walked over to the dog sled area, and were met with an unbelievable sight. About 60 dogs, each with it’s own house and tie up chain. Brenda made friends with the dogs and driver and went off on her adventure. The dogs all went crazy when the sled was prepared. They all wanted to run. As soon as the sled left, they all got quiet. Brenda and the driver went out through the 2-mile course and returned from the other side of the dog compound. As soon as they got back all the dogs again went into plaid thinking something was going to happen.

After the dog sled ride we took some downtime to prepare for the Aurora viewing event starting at 10:00 in the evening. We got moving again to go on our tour of the Ice Museum at 5 pm. We met in front of the building and were escorted inside. The whole interior of the building is ice sculptures many of them over 3 years old. There is a huge intricate sculpture of two knights jousting. There is also a complete chess set in ice with figures 2-3 feet high. All the figures are modeled after animals of the Alaskan wildlife. There is an ice wedding chapel, and they report there have been over 50 weddings held there. On the far end of the building are 4 bedrooms complete with ice beds covered with furs. You can rent these “rooms” for $575 per night. Coming back the other side is an ice igloo with table and chairs inside. The acoustics are purported to be excellent inside. I tested it b y singing a couple of the songs from my repertory. On the same side as the igloo is a bar where they serve their signature appletini drinks in ice carved glasses. We had signed up for those so we landed at the bar on fur covered ice stools. We had our drinks and toasted the adventure.

After the tour, we went back and got ready for dinner. Once again, we dined at the Chena Resort. The food was again very good. Jerry had a smoked salmon penne in cheese and cream sauce that was excellent. After dinner, I think naps were had all around. At about 9:30 we donned our cold weather gear and prepared for our aurora adventure. We arrived in front of the activities building at 9:50 as required. It was a large group, and we were split into smaller groups to ride in the sno coaches. The sno coaches were tracked ATV kind of vehicles with a trailer of sorts that held 10 people. Another 3 or 4 could fit in the cab with the driver. We ended up with 6 folks in our trailer, which gave us a little room to spread out.

The caravan of 4 Sno Coaches headed out up the mountain for our destination. The ride was unbelievably rough. I likened it to being in a combination of blender and vibrator. Since the resort had not had any snow for a while and had been subject to the same 40-degree temps the track was mostly ice. If we had been riding on 6 inches of new powder the ride probably would have been quiet and smooth. The trip to the top of the mountain took about 30 minutes and was very steep along the way. When we got to the top they let us out and we found our yurt. The yurt was a round canvas structure with two propane heaters and two propane lights. It was pretty well sealed off from the wind, and they had hot water going for tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc. The temp at the top of the mountain was probably in the 20’s and the wind was blowing quite hard.

We all did pretty well with our cold weather gear. According to the guides, a couple of weeks ago it was 40 below outside with the wind blowing. They said it never got above –20 inside the yurt with the heat running. They could hardly get the water hot enough for coffee. We spent the next 3 hours looking for the aurora. As the time went by and it was not spotted, everyone became discouraged. I was enjoying the solitude of sitting outside watching the sky in the cold and biting wind. I decided that if I did some Alaskan chanting perhaps the aurora would appear. I chanted for a while, and low and behold, the aurora appeared.

When I thought I saw it, I called Vickie through the canvas wall of the yurt. There was a group of Japanese tourists with us on the mountain. Several of them were sitting inside against the wall waiting for the aurora to appear. When my disembodied voice appeared through the wall of the yurt, it frightened one of the Japanese girls so much she ran to the other side of the hut. Not only could she not understand English but it came after her through the wall. Vickie tried to explain it was me, but to no avail. As the aurora intensified Jerry went in and told the folks waiting it out in the yurt. All of a sudden I heard this huge commotion as all the waiters stampeded outside to see the finally appearing show. The Japanese folks insisted on trying to take flash pictures of the aurora. All they succeeded in doing was blinding everyone. Soon they figured out they were getting picture s of nothing and quit. Jerry used his new camera on a tripod with a timed exposure and got some good pictures of what we saw. We watched the ghostly lights for about 45 minutes, and then it was time to head back. We loaded up into our sno coaches, and were scrambled all the way back down the mountain.

An interesting aside. While we were awaiting the aurora on the mountaintop, Jerry and Vickie got to talking to one of the guides. She was married to another guide. Together they had 2 children. They lived even further out than the resort and had a house with no TV, no satellite, no phone, no newspapers, no indoor plumbing, and a 45 to guard from bears on the way to the outhouse. They had a generator they ran part time, and spent most of what they made on fuel to heat their house. The girl told Jerry she left the lower 48 in 98 and hadn’t been back since. Jerry mentioned that if Hillary won the election, we all might be moving to Alaska. To this the girl replied “Is SHE running?” She hadn’t a clue about the election. We are finding the Alaskans are really a different sort, very self reliant, and fiercely independent. They love the life here, and most have little interest of ever returning to the US mainland.

After the aurora viewing, we finally were back in our rooms around 3:30 am. We all crashed, and the next morning packed up for the return trip to Fairbanks. Checking out of Chena was complicated by their technically challenged staff, and Jerry and I will be straightening out our bills on our own later. On the trip back to Fairbanks, we saw several moose and other game. One of the moose was quite tame and spent some time posing for us to take his picture. They sure are big and funny looking. Tomorrow we’re off for the train back to Anchorage. More later.

Wes

Alaska #8

It’s Friday morning, and the last 24 hours have been very interesting. We packed up everything yesterday and moved out of the Comfort Inn. We headed out of Fairbanks for Chena Hot Springs on the Seward Highway. Along the way we made a quick detour to see the last remaining gold dredge in Alaska. Dredge #8 as it is called is along the highway just past the pipeline viewing area. It was last operational in the late 60’s and was parked the last place it worked. Gold dredges were about the size of a large tugboat and used metal buckets about the size of a lawn tractor on a chain that dug up the gold bearing gravel for processing.

After that we headed out the Chena Springs road toward the resort. The road follows the Chena River the whole way and it is about 60 miles of narrow 2 lane with virtually nothing on it. We saw 2 moose along side the road while traveling. They were in the forest but we were able to stop and take some pictures. We arrived at the resort and checked in. We went directly to the activities center to sign up for the things we wanted to do. There was a Renewable Energy Tour at 6 pm and we signed up for that. We also signed up for a Snow Coach Aurora Tour the following night. We unloaded our stuff from the car and moved into our rooms.

The resort is nice. Not fancy or plush, but very nice. All the staff folks we have come in contact with so far are very accommodating and pleasant. While moving in I noticed our smoke alarm was chirping from a low battery. I called and promptly a maintenance guy came and replaced the battery. He was a young guy, and he told us he was on duty 24/7 from November to April. All the kids here work pretty much full time since there really isn’t anything else to do. The boy at the front desk said it was a great place to work and save money for college. He worked, watched DVD’s, and saved his money. We met a couple other staff folks later in the lounge while we were waiting for a dinner table and they spent a little of their money on adult beverages.

We had dinner at the lodge restaurant, as it is the only game in town. The menu was not extensive but had several interesting selections on it. The prices were pretty much comparable with what we had seen in Fairbanks. A little high by lower 48 standards, but considering Alaska imports 90% of its food, not ridiculous. Jerry had a salmon entrée, Brenda had a dinner salad, and Vickie had a bowl of vegetable soup. I had a duck salad with orange vinaigrette. All of the food was great. More later about the food.

Prior to dinner, Jerry and I went on what was called the Renewable Energy Tour (link to their renewable energy info website). It was purported to be a tour of the geothermal energy sources, green houses, and cooling for the Ice Museum. The young girl who took us on the tour was a Stanford Engineering Master’s grad. She was working here for some experience. She started the tour by explaining how the resort was situated. It sits on a geothermal heat source that produces 165-degree water. They pump water down into an 800 foot well, and get it back hot coming up another 800 foot well. That’s how they heat the spa pools, hot tubs, and outdoor swimming pond. But she also went on to explain this facility was unique in that they produced all their own electricity geothermically. Especially interesting was this is the only facility to produce electricity from a low temperature geothermal source. Most other geothermal sites have 212+ degree water to work with so they can use normal steam electricity production equipment.

This is where the tour really got interesting. It seems they, in concert with a University and Carrier AC Company, have pioneered a turbine generator that runs essentially on the temperature difference between 165-degree water and the outside air. The really interesting thing is the colder it gets the more efficient the whole thing is. (-20 degree outside temperature makes it work real well) What they are doing is using sort of a reverse heat pump powered by the hot water. They boil R134 refrigerant and use it to turn a 15000-RPM turbine that turns a generator through reduction gears. Then they use the cold outside air to condense the R134 for another trip. In the summer they use cold ground water for the cooling and then pump it down the geothermal well. Because they are reusing the same water all the time, they don’t deplete the aquifer. They are producing 250 kW of electricit y (they have two 250 kW units side by side) with an installation about the size of a truck trailer. Neat thing is it is totally modular and uses many off the shelf commercial air conditioning components. What’s very cool is there are limitless applications where this process can be used to produce electricity from waste heat. (like at big electrical plants with giant cooling towers) Adding these modular generators to use the waste heat from the cooling towers could improve the efficiency of existing power plants by many percent. (translation—a bunch more electricity for same amount of fuel burned) In addition the same units can be used to produce electricity from what the oil industry calls stripper wells. These are oil wells where they inject hot water into the ground to bring up the residual oil that will not flow on it’s own. There are only about a zillion of these stripper wells operating.

The tour then went on to show us the greenhouse operation. It is heated by circulating the hot water through pipes in the concrete slab. It has withstood temperature differentials of 74 degrees inside and –54 degrees outside. They grow everything hydroponically, and the various lettuces they were growing were incredible. (hence the concentration on salads at dinner I mentioned earlier) They have a tomato room where she said they had harvested 6500 pounds of tomatoes before they had to replace the vines. Some of the vines were 90 feet long weaving back and forth across the room. Then we moved on to the chiller for the Ice Museum.

The Ice Museum (originally called an Ice Hotel) is a huge structure made up completely of ice. We have a tour of that scheduled for later today. It takes a lot of refrigeration to keep it from melting in temperatures that can get to 90 degrees here in the summer. At this point the guide talked about how things had been in the past at this resort. A series of owners had gone out of business due to the energy costs. Prior to the geothermic project, since they are 30 miles from the nearest electrical grid, it cost $1000 a day in diesel fuel to produce electricity for the resort. In addition it took another $700 a day to keep the Ice Museum from melting. (and this was when diesel was $2.00 per gal rather than $3.50 like now) Now they keep the Ice Museum from melting and maintain a 20-degree year round interior temp with a little ammonia adiabatic system that would fit in the back of your pickup truck. They use the geothermal heat to boil the ammonia to power the thing. They use the waste heat removed from the ice structure to either heat the resort or store in a ground loop. It is an amazingly simple and efficient system. They are getting ready to start up a hydrogen production facility that will take surplus electrical energy from their geothermal generators, and produced hydrogen by electrolysis to mix with their existing propane system and save them thousands a year on propane. Due to the efficiency of all the energy stuff they are doing, this resort is now financially viable, and prospering after years of decay. Jerry and I can only imagine what it will be like in 10 years.

So here we are, in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. But what did we find? We found cutting edge energy technology that is primarily the brainchild of a guy named Bernie Karl. He and his wife bought the resort from the state of Alaska in 1998, and have turned it around completely. In addition, they have folks coming from all over the world to see how the geothermal system operates. I felt like I had been beamed up by aliens and shown technology that could only exist in the far future. I can see modular 250 kW or 500 kW or even bigger electrical generators operating environmentally friendly, with no carbon discharge, all over the world. All of a sudden I don’t have such a gloomy view of us hurtling down a tunnel to energy doom. If this type of stuff can be going on by one visionary guy and his staff in the middle of nowhere Alaska, then there is hope for us all. As our guide put i t, you don’t burn the oil for fuel, you use it to make the invaluable products that can come from it. (plastics, chemicals, etc. etc) And I added, and oh yea, you send Venezuela or the Arabs (who all hate us) less $$$ every month.

After dinner, we rounded up our suits, and headed for the spa. We changed cloths in the locker rooms provided, and made the 22 foot outdoor walk (at about 20 degrees) to the spa swimming pond. The pond is rimmed with granite rocks, and has a coarse sand bottom. It is lit with a few scattered colored lights and the steam rising from the hot water creates an alluring, relaxing aura. The water is about 103 degrees, and is much hotter in areas where the feed water flows in. We spent at lest half an hour in the very interesting environment of 20-degree air and 100 plus water. After that, everyone was well relaxed, and we headed back to our very comfy beds.

Tomorrow, we are going to explore more of the interesting things Chena Hot Springs has to offer. More later.

Wes

Alaska #6

So far we have had no luck seeing the aurora borealis. It’s been cloudy and the aurora activity has been low. We are hoping this changes when we move to Chenna Hotsprings later this week. Yesterday morning, we headed for North Pole Alaska to go to the Santa Land that is there. We found it after some searching, but it is only open Sat. and Sun. in the winter. We took pictures of it and the reindeer penned behind. North Pole is very quaint in that almost everything is Santa like. They even had a St. Nicholas Catholic Church. We did visit the North Pole, Alaska United States Post Office where Santa sends and receives all of his mail. We plan to return on Saturday to partake of the Santa scene.

After the North Pole adventure we spent some time exploring Fairbanks. It is a small sort of dreary city this time of year. All the snow along the roads is black and dirty. Also, there is a big abandoned hotel right in the middle of downtown, just down the street from a new Marriott. They built a big new courthouse, but the old one stands ill used with space for rent signs in the windows. We went by the Visitors Information center, and picked up some literature.

We then went to an art type store advertising 40% off on any dog art. Jerry parked out front since the signs along the street said 2 hr parking. I went in for a while, but am having trouble going into stores when dressed for the outside. I rapidly overheat. I went for a walk down the street which is when I discovered the abandoned hotel I mentioned. Along the way I met a little fellow who was marking the tires of various cars, enforcing the 2 hr parking. He seemed pleasant. I watched him write a ticket for a car parked in a no parking zone after which he snapped a photo of the crime scene. When I got back to where we parked, I saw a parking ticket on our windshield. I looked, and the whole street we were parked on was 2 hr parking except for a little space in front of a loading door. It was marked 30 minute parking for loading. I got Jerry, and we scoped the situation out. It was crazy cause we could have parked anywhere on the stree t. The art storekeeper overheard the conversation, and said she’d see what she could do about it. Seems like the storeowner was someone important. She talked to someone, and got the $40 ticket reduced to a “Stern Warning”. “You tell them when they are in the loading zone, they are supposed to have their flashers on”. Later while strolling around further, I discovered many more tickets. Apparently the young fellow was very zealous about his job, and Fairbanks is serious about their parking laws. Seems a little odd this time of the year when the streets are largely bare of actual folks parking.

After the art store, we went to see the mushers’ museum. For some unknown reason it was closed, Tuesday only, this week. We moved on to see the ice sculpture museum, and it was closed. It’s closed during the ice sculpting competition. We headed for the Artic Treasures Gift Shop and it was open. This was cool cause we had 10% off certificates. We found Vickie a nice Alaska fleece top with matching hat. I got a big floppy Alaska hat, and we found really cool windbreakers for the Vette. We have been looking for windbreakers that would stuff into a little pouch to keep in the back of the Vette for impromptu roof down times. Of all places to find them, in Alaska, and on sale. We had a nice lunch of soup and sandwich at the Fudge Pot, which sells food, coffee, gifts, and fudge.

After lunch we headed out of town to the pipeline viewing location along the highway north of Fairbanks. In this location you can walk right under the pipeline, touch it, take pictures with it, and read information about it. We really enjoyed actually experiencing something we’d heard about for years. After the pipeline, we rode further north on the highway just to see the scenery. This particular highway turns to gravel 56 miles outside the city. We didn’t go that far. The rental car companies around here specifically forbid venturing on to the gravel highways. This is a little crazy however due to the penchant they have for spreading gravel all over the roads for traction on the ice. We decided it does make sense though cause they can’t use salt due to the very low temperatures.

When we got back to town, we went to the Alaska Bowl Company the girls had read about. This is a little manufacturing company that makes all sorts of wooden bowls and stuff out of native birch. We watched them cutting out bowls and finishing them. We decided we really didn’t need any bowls however since a set of 3 was around $200 and we’d have to ship them home. After that we went to Pioneer Park where I wanted to see the restored steamboat from the early days of Alaska. Well it was closed also, but we were able to see the steamboat and Warren G. Harding’s rail car. Seems like Fairbanks is sort of closed for the winter. We headed to our final stop, called Santa’s Smokehouse. This is a place where they smoke, sell, and ship salmon and other meats. It was open! We went in and sampled their various products. We bought a pack of smoked chum salmon strips for dinner, and took a price sheet to see if we might want to ship some home before we left. We then headed back to the motel and had a nice dinner of smoked salmon, fruit, cheese, veggies and dip. We turned in leaving again a wake up call if the aurora appeared. More later.

Wes

Alaska #5

Yesterday was moving day. We packed up everything, loaded it in the car and headed off to the airport. We stopped buy the Post Office on the way to mail some stuff home. Parcel Post from here to home was reported to be 5-6 weeks. According to the USPS guy the stuff has to go by barge to a mail center in the lower 48 then via truck to Virginia. Some will have to wait a while for their Alaska gifts.

Since we were on Alaska Air for our flight to Fairbanks we got to go to the “New Terminal” in Anchorage. It is a monument to the “pork” (Alaska legislators are famous for). Seems as though the travel force was with us yesterday, but just a hair out of sync with our universe. We arrived safely in Fairbanks so all was well, but along the way weirdness abounded. We got to the new Taj Mahal terminal only to be told the computer system was down and we’d have to check in at customer service. But by the time Jerry got back from returning the SUV, the computers were up and working. We got to security and my usual strip search to get through the checkpoint was compounded by having a new TSA guy in training, so I got to be a guinea pig. I told him I was good training material since I was an experienced searchee. I got through security, thanked the TSA folks, and was now cleared for flight.

This terminal has a real weirdness I’ve never seen before. Their gate numbering system starts with zero. So you have Gate C0 which makes perfect sense in the computer world, but I can see some 70 and 80-year-old folks scratching their heads over it. We landed at our Gate C4 and sat looking out the window watching the parade of freight planes go by. Anchorage must be the refueling and crew change hub for every airfreight flight in the Pacific. I never saw so many huge planes in one place. While we were sitting there Jerry informed me that you can Google the tail numbers of airplanes and find out when they were built along with their history. There were two Alaska Air 737-400’s sitting at the gate so I checked them out. Turns out one of them was “The Spirit of Alaska” the first 737-400 ever delivered to Alaska Air 15 years ago. Even the air crew, who were standing nearby waiting to get on our plane, didn’t know that.

We boarded our plane and got all settled. The door closed and we waited for them to back out but it didn’t happen. Then they opened the door back up and a whole bunch of folks got on. They must have waited for a connecting flight. We finally pushed back and got ready to take off. It was dreadfully hot in the plane but I figured it would cool off after we took off. Well it never did. Folks were shucking winter clothes like a stripper convention. It was a short flight over incredibly scenic landscape, your basic snow covered wilderness.

We arrived in Fairbanks, in our hot plane, and taxied up to the gate. The plane stopped and everyone got up like they always do. Only problem---no one went anywhere. They had jet way problems and couldn’t get it up to the side of the plane. The pilot came on and said we might have to move the plane. After what seemed like 15 minutes, they finally got the door open and we got off.

We headed down to the rental car area to find 6 or 8 rental car counters. Only thing was the one we were using was the only one that had any customers and the line there was eight deep. Seems like the other rental car companies might need to examine their marketing for Fairbanks. We finally got our car and headed for the parking lot. The air was crisp and cold and the snow crunched underfoot. It was interesting that the rental contract had a big warning to be sure and unplug your rental car before leaving. When we left, the rental car thermometer said –8 but it was off about 10 or 15 degrees to the cold side. Temp was really in the mid teens.

We found our motel, which is right beside the ice carving competition. We could see some of the carvings as we drove in and are very excited to go and see them up close. We checked in at the motel and for some reason they had Vickie and I set up to be in a king Jacuzzi suite. We didn’t understand it, but weren’t about to complain. We found our room and it was really great—very big. This is nice cause it gives the 4 of us a great place to hang out. Jerry, Brenda, and I went to the Safeway and stocked up on groceries. We had a little relaxation hour and headed off to the Pump House for dinner. The Pump House was a giant pumping station that supplied water to the gold dredges back in the 20’s. Miss Vickie had reindeer for dinner, which is actually caribou according to the Pump House menu, and it was quite tasty.

When we returned from dinner Vickie called the front desk for an Aurora Borealis wake up call. They offer this service so a late night/early morning viewing is available. We surely do not want to miss an opportunity to see the northern lights!

We figured out later why they gave us the room upgrade---it’s haunted. Inside the walls there is this creaking and groaning from the heating system that goes on continuously. Also, periodically the clock radio makes this Morse code like faint buzzing noise. But the bed was good and we slept wonderfully. Had biscuits and gravy on the continental menu this morning along with waffles and Danish. Very nice.

Today we are off to explore Fairbanks. More later.

Alaska #4

Yesterday was a great day as we attended the physical start of the Iditarod. We used the trick of dressing with the window open, and then left the heat off in the SUV while traveling. We headed north on Alaska Rt. 1 through Wasilla to Willow. The drive going there passes through and around a range of snow-covered mountains. On the trip up, it was cloudy, but the views were still spectacular. We arrived in Willow, and were directed into a parking area that was part of the local airport. In Alaska most every small town has a local airport or floatplane depot since light planes are a major method of travel here. We drove a couple miles down the snow covered Willow airport, and parked in a large field at the end of the runway. Planes were still taking off over our heads. We got out of the car and were standing around the back of the car “gearing up”. As we completed preparations, we were commenting about how enjoyable it was to be out in the vast outdoors and cold with the right gear. We boarded a shuttle bus to take us from the parking area to the festivities. The bus dropped us off at the main entrance to the start. We hiked into the event, and realized the whole thing was happening on a big frozen lake. It was amazing. Big television trucks, all the competitors’ trucks and support equipment, thousands of people, airplanes, helicopters, snowmobiles, all out on this frozen lake. Network news coverage was there as well as The Discovery Channel. We secured a place right along the safety barrier very near the starting line. From there we could see the mushers making their final preparations and saying good bye to their loved ones. This was a much more business like atmosphere than the ceremonial start had been Saturday. The dog teams were larger with some at the max number of 16 dogs. The sleds were heavily packed and all secured. As the teams approached the st arting line, they had a dog handler on each side of each pair of dogs keeping them under control. The dogs strained forward, and as the sled reached the starting line, and whole crew of officials basically jumped on it and corralled it from forward motion while the musher put a claw like ice anchor in the trail. Then the handlers disconnected from the dog teams, and most of the mushers made a final inspection of the long dog harness. The announcer would talk about the mushers’ history and stats, and the countdown would progress toward zero. At go, the mushers swung on to the back of the sleds, and rocketed down the mile long lines of spectators lining the safety barriers. You could see them a couple miles off as they headed off the frozen lake and up into the forest trail. Only 1100 miles and 9 days through the frozen wilderness till the finish in Nome. Just watching them leave for that quest was inspiring. An interesting bit of information: When the Iditarod first started it took around 40 days to make the trip. In the 70’s the average time was around 20 days. Recently the winner set a record of like 8 and a half days. I told my friends; I am really in love with this place and the whole event. If I were physically fit enough, I'd be back here next year as a volunteer somewhere on the course. We watched the start for a couple of hours and then headed back to Anchorage. On the way back the mountain vistas were even prettier and the sun was often out highlighting the beauty. We arrived back in Anchorage, ungeared, unlaxed, and went to dinner at Henry’s Great Alaskan Restaurant. Food was good, service was great, and a good time was had by all. Of note was an appetizer that consisted of battered and deep fried strips of onions and jalapenos. It was served with a ranch type dipping sauce. We returned to the motel and started preparations for flying to Fairbanks tomorrow. We’re off in quest of the Aurora Borealis. Later…..I just heard from my sister, 08:30am her time and 04:30am mine. My dad is scheduled for surgery tomorrow to deal with the intestinal blockage. The Dr. is a surgical specialist in issues dealing with cancer and the GI tract. Mother will be going to stay in Winston till he is stable. More later.

Wes

Alaska #3

Iditarod ceremonial beginning day was today. After all the excitement getting my dad back into the hospital before dawn Alaska time, we ate breakfast and prepared to head out for the start. They surprised us this morning. Instead of the crock-pot full of oatmeal, they broke out the ubiquitous waffle machine. In fact at this establishment, they trusted you to make your own waffle. We walked in to find a fellow scraping waffle crumbs out of the machine. Apparently he didn’t see the lubricating spray provided. After his total waffle failure, the attendant came out with a brush and cleaned up the ragged mess. I then proceeded to utilize my waffle expertise (honed by many days on the road) and bang out waffles for both Jerry and me. I filled the cups slightly above the fill line knowing that this particular brand of waffle maker required a slightly fuller charge to produce perfection . When mine came out slightly deficient, I went back and touched up Jerry’s to properly charge the machine. Waffle perfection was achieved, and we snarfed down the all carb all the time breakfast in preparation for the day’s festivities. We went back to the room, and donned our cold weather garb preparing for the day. Jerry and Brenda perfected a new method of getting dressed. It’s called open the window when it’s 20 outside. Finally we all got going, and headed up to the starting line. Jerry and Brenda had made it up there ahead of us, and Jerry fearing I couldn’t make the hike was headed back to get the car and drive me. As it turned out the motel had a shuttle that ran as long as anyone wanted to go that dropped us off right near the starting line. Jerry needed more clothes anyway, and so we hopped the shuttle and were back up there in no time. It was pretty d_mn cold this morning with a wind blowing as well. It was amazing to see all the snow they trucked in for the event. Wher e the streets were bare yesterday was a couple miles of snow 4-6 inches deep today when we got there. The route to the starting line took us past many of the teams getting their dogs ready. It is a very interesting sport. Not only do you have to get yourself ready, but also you have to handle the logistics of getting at least 12 dogs ready and fed and everything else to make it all happen. We trekked up to the starting line and secured spots where we thought we could see what went on. For a moment I thought I was at a NASCAR race as a lady butchered The National Anthem but as bad as it was she really belted it out and it felt great. They had all the politicians making speeches and about 10 folks cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the 36^th Iditarod. Then the real fun started. They would bring up each team and then count them down to start. The dogs would be so excited they would be all jumping and hopping. One of them on the team would begin to bark and sing, and the other s would all join in. They were some of the prettiest happiest dogs I have ever seen. They seemed like they were just happy to be in harness and getting ready to run. When they were turned loose, they would fly down the street to big cheers from the crowd. Today, they only ran 10 miles to the outskirts of town. There they would stop and be trucked to Willow, AK. which is 2-3 hrs to the North. Reason for this is there really isn’t enough continuous snow pack this far south to allow proper mushing. The teams start one every 2 minutes, and we watched them until it was approaching lunchtime. We decided to go back to the Alaska Salmon Chowder House for lunch. We got there before the real rush and got a table right away. Today Vickie had a big bowl of clam chowder, Brenda had a big bowl of chili, Jerry had a small bowl of Manhattan style Halibut chowder and a sockeye salad sandwich, and I had authentic style chicken ramen noodles. (complete with tofu strips—my sister would be so proud). I t all was great, and restoked the system to maintain body heat. Thinking of heat, we did find that the little warmer packs that Vickie had found us prior to the trip came in really handy for our feet. Our pack boots did the job really well, but the warmer packs made the difference between being very comfortable and slightly uncomfortable in the foot department. After lunch we went back and continued watching the start. We were able to see our new acquaintance from yesterday start, and hung on to see all 96 entries pass the starting line. With the start complete, we headed back down the hill to the motel, but along the way I spotted something that advertised a movie all about the Iditarod. Turns out Brenda had met the lady who ran this venue, and promised her we’d come and check it out. It was an odd sort of adult playground, with computer games that are kind of hard to describe. But you know me, I’ll try. They had a fishing chair complete with pole, and you tried to reel in a 65-po und salmon. The game pulled like you really had a big fish on the line. Somehow it recorded a score of how you did catching the fish. Was a lot of fun. Then they had a hot air balloon ride over Prince William Sound simulation. You stood in a real balloon basket with a TV screen for the bottom. It was very beautiful and realistic. Also, there was a real life dog sled with a computer simulation projected on a screen in front of you and you felt like you were really riding a dog sled. Finally they had a 30-minute movie all about the history and workings of the Iditarod. We were fortunate to have a woman in our small movie audience that had participated in the race several times. She talked with us and gave us a real feeling of how it all worked. She said that the dogs were like athletes, and as a musher, you were like their coach. She went on, you were dealing with 12 minds, and what you had to do was get them to work as a team. At times you had to be a Vet, physiologist, mother, chee rleader, whatever it took. Also, you had to keep their spirits up to want to run. She talked about how they loved to run and unless they got older and infirm, you really couldn’t take it away from them. From watching the movie, the hardships for the mushers are unbelievable. They have to single handedly mush (drive) the sled all day, then after they stop, they have to get the dogs bedded down, inspected for injuries, and fed (again alone) then take care of themselves. They also have to camp under very primitive conditions in the cold. The physical toil plus sleep deprivation takes it’s toll on the participants. It takes a very hardy soul to even complete an Iditarod let alone win one. One girl told me the dogs burn 10,000 calories a day. I said even I could loose weight with that kind of energy expenditure. All in all this event is truly a unique symbiosis between man and dog that goes far beyond just a competitive sport. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed just being here to see an d try to understand what goes on. Tomorrow we are going to drive up to Willow to see the actual full on for real start of the race. I’m really looking forward to that. Tonight we are headed out to the Sourdough Mining Co. restaurant for dinner. Jerry and Brenda had found this place when they were here in the summer. In the meantime we’re unlaxing a little and doing our own things. My sister just called and dad has been admitted to Forsythe Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Things are looking up for dad. He has a better group of Dr’s. and they are not looking at his condition with cancer blinders on. He was comfortable last night, and sounded much better on the phone. On the way to dinner tonight, made an interesting observation. If the roads in Greensboro or Martinsville were like they are here, the city would be closed until the spring thaw. According to the motel shuttle bus driver they had a 40-degree thaw followed by teens. What it di d was coat everything in a sheet of ice similar to a frozen lake. Sidewalks, parking lots, side roads, you name it. Driving is quite a treat unless you are on one of the main highways. We had a nice dinner—food was good—portions were way to large as usual. I had a smoked brisket sandwich that was way tasty. Jerry and Vickie had baby backs, and Brenda had a smoked pork sandwich. Specialty of the house was corn fritters with honey butter. They were excellent. Back to the motel, and up this morning to head for the Willow start of the actual dog race. More later.

Wes

Alaska #2

We woke up this morning around 07:30 local time (12:30 pm EST) after finally crashing about 01:30 am. (at that point we had been up almost 24 hrs.) We went down to partake of the continental breakfast here at the Laughing Moose Comfort Inn. I have named it that because of the giant moose head hanging in the entranceway that appears to be laughing. Exactly why he is laughing when he is dead and stuffed is a mystery. Oh, and also in the front hall are a huge wolf pelt, a black bear that looks like it’s been run over by a steam roller complete with it’s tongue hanging out, and a giant stuffed brown bear. The top of the bear reaches all the way to the floor level of the second floor balcony. During breakfast we recognized the picture in the Alaska paper of a famous musher running in the Iditarod sitting at the table next to us. His name was Ken Anderson and he was very nice. This morning we put Miss Vickie on the job of negotiating a new accommodation contract. She managed to get us a discount rate for our remaing stay, and comp for the room we shared last night. They quickly had a room ready for us and we moved right across the hall and landed. We have a room now overlooking the famous Ship Creek. I think this is the one in the old saying “Up Ship Creek without a paddle”. We’re getting our collective acts together and will be heading out to explore Anchorage soon. We donned all our cold weather gear and realized we needed to be outside soon. It’s a new thing—I’m dying from the heat and I need to get out where it’s cold. We went across the street to the snow sculpture competition. It was very interesting. They took a parking lot and piled it full of snow about 8 feet deep. After it had settled down and hardened, they came back with front-end loaders and sculpted out walls and raw blocks for the competition. The blocks for the competition were about 10 feet by 10 feet by 8 feet of rock solid snow. Each team somehow chiseled out their vision. The results were quite interesting. After the snow sculpture we walked over to the Ulu Knife Factory, which is right beside our motel. We saw how they made the knives, did some shopping, boarded the Fur Rondy trolley, and headed up to the city. The trolley let us off in front of the Alaska Salmon Chowder House, which came highly recommended by our trolley driver. It was lunchtime so we decided to check out the food at the Alaska Salmon Chowder House. It was great. Among us we had the special times 3 and a bowl of chili. The special was a half a salmon salad sandwich and a bowl of the chowder of your choice. Jerry and I had the Halibut chowder and Vickie had classic clam chowder. Brenda had a bowl of chili. All of the chowder was killer good, and the chili was fine. The sandwiches were on nice crusty rolls with crisp lettuce and the salmon salad (like chicken salad) was very good. After lunch we watched the TV trucks setting up and set off exploring downt own Anchorage. I guess I never knew, but a huge earthquake largely destroyed Anchorage back in the 60’s. Also we found out the tourist business here is very seasonal. Other than now (Iditarod) winter is pretty slow with tourists. Well they have plenty of souvenir shops, right on the main streets. We visited several shops and while walking along the street heard a dog barking. We looked up and saw a sled dog standing on the roof 2 stories above us surveying the crowd, We then headed off and hiked a few blocks (via the adult beverage store) to the only official Iditarod souvenir shop. Jerry and I found the Iditarod store and got some “stuff”. We had split up earlier, and we met back up with the girls. Jerry and I decided to head back to the motel, and the girls went on to the mall that contained the Iditarod store. I was having a little trouble walking, so we decided to take the trolley back. We saw it down the street, and Jerry took off at a fast clip trying to catch it. He caught u p to it only to find it idling with no driver. A short indigenous woman with one tooth smoking a cigarette was standing next to the bus. Jerry asked her if she was the driver, and it seemed like she said yes. We figured she was on a break and sort of hung around. Upon further conversation with this lady, it seemed she was somewhat (or a whole what) tipsy. Jerry and I started wondering if we really wanted to get on the trolley with her as the driver. Just about the time we were really getting nervous, here came the real driver out of a nearby store. Seems this old Native American woman had taken the liberty of Bs’ing us for her own entertainment. Well we got on the trolley with the real driver, and set out on another adventure. Seems we had to ride the whole trolley route with him to get back to the motel. He proceeded to tell us his and Anchorage’s life story. Now well educated, Jerry and I were dropped off back at the motel. I noticed some activity at the far end of the parking lo t (right next to the giant mountain of snow) that seemed to involve sleds. We wandered down and found another of the Iditarod mushers complete with competition sled and dogs. The dogs were happily resting in straw nests inside a large white trailer, and the sled was being inspected on the trailer ramp. We had a nice discussion with the musher, and learned a lot about how the Iditarod works. Her name was Anne Capistrant, and she’s wearing bib number 88. (of 97 mushers in the race) We needed some munchies and liquid refreshments, so we got directions from the desk clerk and set off for the grocery store. We ended up at Carr’s Safeway, which was a large well-stocked store. Seems Safeway here has a curious arrangement. They can’t sell adult beverages in the grocery store, so they just build a little store on to the end of the grocery store and sell them there. It even takes Safeway customer rewards cards, which we just happened to have thanks to a very friendly checkout lady at the Saf eway grocery store part. Even while traveling, we saved over $15.00 with our Safeway card. Of interest along the way back from the grocery store was something called Falafel King, which appeared to be some kind of fast food establishment. (upon further research, it is some kind of mid-eastern sandwich of fried chickpea balls in pita bread. Says McDonalds even has one in Egypt called McFalafel). We got back to the motel, and found that in our absence the fire alarm had gone off somehow caused buy the person of questionable legality vacuuming in the hall. Seems like it must be a routine problem as he assured all the heads poking out of the doors “no problem, no problem”. (oh and he called Vickie sir, she couldn’t believe he thought she was a guy) We settled down for the evening, and dinner became what we rounded up at the grocery store interspersed with adult beverages and hearty laughter at the day’s events. Miss Vickie came up with a good one; she looked outside to see if it had “s nown”, guess that is southern for snowed. Since our clocks are all on Eastern Time, which is 4 hrs later, we soon headed off to bed. I awakened at my usual 07:00 only to find here the clock read 03:00. I got up to write, and ended up working with the Dr’s. by cell phone to get my dad back in the hospital. He is not doing well again, and his GI track is not cooperating. My sister scanned and emailed me all his test reports, and now I am really confused. The biopsy was not inconclusive it was NEGATIVE???? The only test that indicates cancer is a blood test that has to be confirmed by a biopsy. So we’ve gone full circle, and we’re back where we started 2 weeks ago. Well we’ll just have to see how it goes as he reenters the hospital. Look for us today on the TV at the Iditarod start. More later.

Wes